Music for the Wanamaker Organ and Flugelhorn

peter richard conte wanamaker grand court organ

andrew ennis flugelhorn

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1 | My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice Camille Saint-Saëns 6:58from Samson and Delilah, Op. 47 (1835-1921)

2 | Nessun Dorma, from Turandot Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) 3:363 | Ave Maria, from Otello Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) 4:584 | Mondscheinmusik, from Capriccio, Op. 85 Richard Strauss (1864-1949) 5:015 | Lux Aeterna, from Requiem, Op. 9 Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) 4:426 | Funeral March of a Marionette Charles Gounod (1818-1893) 4:437 | Sospiri Edward Elgar (1857-1934) 4:478 | Homage to Fritz Kreisler ‘Londonderry’ Robert Hebble (b. 1934) 4:449 | Procession of the Nobles, from Mlada Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) 5:0710 | Prelude to Act I of La Traviata Verdi 4:0211 | Suite from Carmen Georges Bizet (1838-1875), arr. Edwin Lemare 5:4012 | Clair de Lune, from Suite bergamasque Claude Debussy (1862-1918) 5:2013 | Ubi Caritas, from Quatre motets, Op. 10 Duruflé 2:3314 | Shepherd’s Hey Percy Grainger (1882-1961) 2:2715 | Pie Jesu, from Requiem, Op. 9 Duruflé 3:5616 | Elsa’s Procession, from Lohengrin Richard Wagner (1813-1883) 6:37

Tracks 1, 4, 6-12, 16 arranged by Peter Richard Conte TOTAL TIME: 75:14Tracks 2, 3, 5, 14, 15 arranged by Andrew Ennis

Music for the Wanamaker Organ and Flugelhorn

peter richard conte wanamaker grand court organ

andrew ennis flugelhorn

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the music : opera notes

My Heart at thy Sweet VoiceSamson et Dalila, Op. 47, first performed in 1877, by Camille Saint Saëns

(1835 – 1921) is one of few mainstream operas to based on a biblicalstoryline. In Act 2, the Philistine character Dalia sings the widely belovedaria “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix,” which literally means, “My heart opens toyour voice”, and not the standardized English translation used for the title ofthis album. The great irony of this timeless melody is that it is hardly a lovesong, but rather a manipulative lie. God has bestowed Samson withextraordinary strength in order to relieve the Hebrews from oppression by thePhilistines. Dalila is in service to the High Priest of Dagon and is using herbeauty and seductive charm to figure out his weakness and thus stop theHebrew uprising.

Nessun DormaGiacomo Puccini’s (1858 – 1924) Turandot is based on a dramatic fairy-

tale of Persian-oriented plot set in legendary China by Italian playwrightCarlo Gozzi (1720 – 1806). Puccini died before finishing the opera, whichwas premiered two years later with the final two scenes completed by FrancoAlfano. Turnadot is the daughter of the Emperor of Pecking. Her father hasdeclared that she will marry the first suitor of royal lineage to solve threeriddles and those who attempt and fail will be put to death. Calaf, the sonof Timur, the dispossessed King of Tartary, has solved the three riddles.Turnadot is terrified and has begged her father not to enforce the impendingmarriage. Calaf tells Turandot that if she can guess his name by thefollowing dawn, he will consent to be beheaded. She has declared, “Nessun

dorma,” or, “No one shall sleep,” until his name isdiscovered at the time of this romanza aria of the same title.Calaf assures himself, “no one shall know my name until Ipress it to your lips.” This especially lyrical aria concludestriumphantly as Calaf proclaims “vincerò,” which means, “Ishall win!”

Ave MariaGiuseppe Verdi’s (1813 – 1901) Otello is based on the play

by William Shakespeare, whom Verdi always admired andalso set to music previously in Macbeth and later on inFalstaff. First performed in 1887, Otello is set on the island ofCypress at the end of the 15th century. The title character is ageneral of the Venetian army and is also a Moor. Iago, anensign, vengefully plots to not only demote Cassio, a platoonleader who has innocently overtaken Iago in rank, but to alsotrick Otello into thinking that his wife Desdemona is havingextramarital relations with Cassio so that he will then murderher by strangling, at Iago’s suggestion. “Ave Maria” isDesdemona’s bedtime prayer of supplication to the blessedmother after a humiliating day of being publically thrown tothe ground by her delusional husband. The tender arpeggioat the end is her “Amen.” This comes immediately after hermelancholy aria known as the “Willow Song” and is followedby her tragic death at the hands of her husband.

MondscheinmusikCapriccio, Op. 85, first performed in 1942, is Richard Strauss’ (1864 –

1949) final opera and is set in a chateau near Paris, the date varying with theproduction. A single act comprises the entire piece, and this instrumentalnumber, translated Moonlight Music, is the introduction to the final scene, inwhich the opera’s heroine, Countess Madeleine briefly speaks to the Major-Domo, the head of house staff, and then sings an entrancing, nearlytwenty-minute long monologue which wraps up the story. She is a widowand has two suitors, a poet and a composer. They have been competing forher favor, personifying their respective crafts, and insisting she decide whichmatters more to her: music or poetry. While “Mondscheinmusik” is played,Madeleine is alone on stage silently pondering her situation and marveling inthe newfound excitement of two very interesting men being so infatuatedwith her. She is completely in the moment, and through this contemplativeand nostalgic five minutes of music, Strauss takes his audience to thatultimate emotional state with her.

Procession of the NoblesNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-

1908) was propelled to set a Slavmythology-based libretto to music bythe excitement he attained fromattending the first complete performanceof Wagner’s Ring in Russia. His Mlada,first performed in 1892, is an opera-ballet, a genre that was out of fashion bythe 1890s. The title character is neithera sung nor spoken role, but a ballerina.The setting is the Slavonic territories onthe Baltic shore, 9th or 10th century. In1903, the composer extracted anorchestral suite from his unsuccessfullarger work. The fifth movement,Cortége, is the popular “Procession ofthe Nobles,” taken from Act 2, Scene 3.At this point, the festival of midsummeris being celebrated and the princes of theland assemble just before a divinationrite takes place.

Prelude to Act 1 of La TraviataVerdi’s earlier opera, La Traviata, was first performed in 1853. It is based

on the play La dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas. Violetta is acourtesan in Paris and is taken care of by Baron Douphol. She secretlysuffers from tuberculosis and knows that her days are numbered. In the firstact, she meets Alfredo Germont who has long admired her. Upon discoveringwhat it means to truly be loved, Violetta leaves the Baron to be with Alfredo.Unbeknownst to her lover, Alfredo’s father persuades Violetta to end therelationship because her past puts shame on the Germonts and inhibits agood marriage being made for Alfredo’s sister. The combination of thisultimate sacrifice and Violetta’s fatal illness are expressed in the very sadPrelude opening on high, soft, suspended strings. The melodic materialeventually heard is taken from Act 2 at which point Violetta has decided tofulfill Gergio Germont’s request and written Alfredo a letter he has not yetreceived. In what she believes will be their final embrace, she exclaims,“Love me as much as I love you!”

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Suite from CarmenFrench composer Georges Bizet’s (1838 – 1875) final and most

successful opera, Carmen (first performed in 1875) is set in Seville, Spainaround 1820. The bulk of the material in this suite arrangement comesfrom the exhilarating Prelude to Act 1 and the gypsy Carmen’s Act 1aria, “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” or “Love is a wild bird,” morecommonly known as the Habañera, which is the name of the musicalgenre characterized by the same rhythm that makes up the ostinatoaccompaniment of this aria: long-short-long-long. In this seductivearia, Carmen explains, “If you don’t love me, I still may love you. Andif I love you, watch out!” foreshadowing the fate of the soldier Don José.Also featured is the Act 2 aria “Toréador, engarde!” or “Toreador, onguard!” which is sung by Escamillo, the bullfighter who eventuallysteals Carmen’s affections from the heartbroken Don José. The refrain ofthis aria is translated, “As you fight, dream of the dark eyes watchingyou and of the love that’s waiting for you, toreador.”

Elsa’s Procession Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883) finished composing the music for

Lohengrin in 1847. The title character is introduced as a nameless figurearriving on a swan and embodying supernatural abilities. He saves Elsaof Barbant from conviction of killing her brother, a crime for which thevicious Count Telramund has falsely accused her. Lohengrin does thisby dueling Telramund and defeating but not killing him. The victor alsomakes Elsa promise not to inquire of his identity. This featured musicalselection from Act 2 Scene 3 is the procession of the wedding of Elsaand her unnamed hero. Half way through the chorus enters, praisingElsa for her beauty and praying for her wellbeing. The ending in thisarrangement has been slightly altered to make it a self-contained unit.In the original context, the procession is interrupted as Ortrud,Telramund’s wife abruptly declares that their roles should be reversedand Elsa should be subservient to her and accuses Lohengrin of sorcery.

—ROBERT ELLIOTT STUBBS, JR.

Robert Elliott Stubbs, Jr. holds Bachelor and Master of Musicdegrees in organ performance from Westminster Choir College andIndiana University, respectively. He is the dedicatee of Mr. Conte’stranscription of “Mondscheinmusik” from Richard Strauss’s Capriccio,featured on this disk.

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the music : addi t ional notes

Lux Aeterna, Pie Jesu and Ubi CaritasThree tracks on this CD are adaptations of choral works from the 20th

Century French organist and composer Maurice Duruflé, who was highlycritical of his own compositions, leaving us only an handful of works.Perhaps the most famous of these, Requiem, Op. 9, uses for nearly all of itsthematic material the Gregorian chants for the ‘Mass of the Dead’, as found inthe Liber Usualis. The Lux Aeterna is the Communion Proper for the RequiemMass, and the Pie Jesu is the final couplet from the Sequence Hymn Dies Irae.Duruflé’s beloved setting of the latter, originally scored for solo mezzo-

soprano, organ and cello obligato, often follows the Sanctus at a RequiemMass. The Ubi Caritas, the first of Durufle’s Quatre motets sur des themesgrégoriens, op. 10, sets the ancient chant for the last of the foot washingantiphons on Maundy Thursday: Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est (Wherecharity and love are, God is there.)

Funeral March of a Marionette Charles Gounod wrote this musical bonbon in 1872 to be the ballet in his

opera Joan of Ark. It was conceived as a musical portrait of a critic whomGounod despised. The music follows a story line:The puppet breaks; friends murmur their regrets;the procession of mourners follows; the followersstop to refresh themselves along the way (as thework suddenly shifts into the parallel major key).Hitchcock fans will recognize this as his adoptedsignature tune for the long-running televisionshow Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

SospiriElgar provisionally called this short work

Soupir d’Amour, intending it as a companionpiece to Salut d’Amour, a light popular work.What emerged, however, was a work ofconsiderably greater substance. He composed itin the months leading up to the outbreak of theFirst World War and it was perhaps the gatheringstormclouds of war that moved him to write aheartfelt, bleak adagio that would not be out ofplace as the slow movement of an Elgarsymphony. The dedicatee, W H (Billy) Reed wasthe leader of the London Symphony Orchestra,and became a close personal friend of Elgar.Although Elgar was himself a violinist of someability, he frequently turned to Reed for adviceon technical issues when composing works suchas the Violin Sonata. Sospiri was premiered inQueens Hall, London, on 14th August 1914.

Homage to Fritz Kreisler: LondonderryRobert Hebble studied composition with Roger Sessions and Nadia

Boulanger. He was a close companion to the late Virgil Fox, and oftenarranged music for him. In his original arrangement of this popular Irish air,the tune is played by the organist’s feet, freeing the hands to grasp richchords, full of Hebble’s characteristically sumptuous harmonies.

Clair de LuneDebussy was one of the most influential composers in his native France

and elsewhere. He was trained at the Paris Conservatoire, and decided thereon a career as a composer rather than as a pianist, which had been hisoriginal intention. His highly characteristic musical language, thoroughlyFrench in inspiration, extended the contemporary limits of harmony andform; he possessed a wonderful, delicate command of nuance, whether inpiano-writing or in the handling of a relatively large orchestra. Debussy isconsidered the most important composer of piano music since Frédéric

Chopin. Clair de Lune (‘Moonlight’) is the third, and most popular movementof his Suite bergamesque.

Shepherd’s HeyThe Australian-born Percy Grainger, a prominent and innovative 20th

century composer and pianist, not only wrote original piano music, but wasalso a prolific arranger of British folk tunes. Shepherd’s Hey, initiallycomposed in 1909 for winds and strings, was subsequently adapted for fullorchestra, wind band, piano solo and piano four-hands, all by the composerhimself. The tune itself is a Morris dance, a centuries-old English form ofgroup dancing, although Grainger insists on the score to his Piano Soloversion (1913) that “This setting is not suitable to dance Morris dances to.”Grainger served briefly as a bandsman in the US Army, and became a UScitizen in 1918.

—PETER RICHARD CONTE

THE CONTE-ENNISDUO is represented byPhillip TruckenbrodConcert Artists.

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the art is ts

Andrew Ennis is a graduate of Rowan University where he received hisundergraduate degree in music education, specializing in trumpet. Whileperforming a wide variety of classical literature, he also enjoys jazz, andplayed lead trumpet in the Rowan jazz ensembles. He has played trumpetsince childhood, and has studied with top musicians in the area includingDavid Bilger of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Bryan Appleby-Wineberg,

his teacher at Rowan. In addition to his full-time duties as the Orchestral Music director at the

Collingswood, New Jersey Middle and High Schools, Mr. Ennis also serves asthe Director of Instrumental Music and Principal Organist and Pianist of St.Joachim in Bellmawr, NJ. He also studies organ with Peter Richard Conte.

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Peter Richard Conte celebrated his 25th year asWanamaker Grand Court Organist in 2014. He is onlythe fourth person to hold that title since the organ firstplayed in 1911. He performs concerts twice daily, sixdays each week, on the largest fully-functioningmusical instrument in the world. Mr. Conte is alsoPrincipal Organist of Longwood Gardens, KennettSquare, PA, and, since 1991, has served as Choirmasterand Organist of Saint Clement’s Church, Philadelphia,where he directs a professional choir in an extensivemusic program catering to the Anglo-Catholictradition. Mr. Conte is highly regarded as a skillful performer

and arranger of organ transcriptions. He has beenfeatured several times on National Public Radio and onABC television’s “Good Morning America” and “WorldNews Tonight.” He has two radio shows: “TheWanamaker Organ Hour”, which airs on the firstSunday of each month, at 5 PM (Eastern), and can beheard via the internet at WRTI.ORG; on eachWednesday evening at 7 PM, his Grand Court concertis streamed live on YesterdayUSA.com. Mr. Conteperforms extensively throughout the United States andCanada under the management of Phillip TruckenbrodConcert Artists, and has appeared as a featured artist atAmerican Guild of Organists’ National and RegionalConventions. He has performed with the PhiladelphiaOrchestra, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, and withnumerous orchestras around the country. Peter Richard Conte is an Adjunct Assistant

Professor of Organ at Rider University’s WestminsterChoir College, Princeton, NJ, where he teaches OrganImprovisation. He is the 2008 recipient of theDistinguished Alumni Award from the IndianaUniversity School of Music, Bloomington. ThePhiladelphia Music Alliance awarded him a BronzePlaque on the Avenue of the Arts in 2011. He hasmade numerous recordings on the Wanamaker GrandCourt Organ for the Gothic Records label.

Peter Richard Conte wishes to thank the Macy’s management team for their continued commitment to the Wanamaker Organ, the worldwide supporters of the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ(www.wanamakerorgan.com), and the indefatigable Ray Biswanger, President, for their support in restoring and maintaining this internationally treasured instrument.

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Catalog Number: G-49294www.gothic-catalog.com

o&r 2015 by Loft Recordings, LLC All Rights Reserved

credi ts

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Executive producer: Roger W. ShermanRecording producer: Charles GagnonRecording engineer: James StemkeBalance engineer, editing and mastering: Charles GagnonOrgan curators: Curt Mangel, Sam WhitcraftChief organ tuner: J. Anthony Nichols

Booklet editor: Roger W. ShermanGraphic designer: Dominic AZ Bonuccelli

(azfoto.com)Photographers: Dennis Kelly, Julien Girard

Special thanks to Frederick R. Haas for his recommendation to underwrite this recording with a generous gift from the Wyncote Foundation.

All rights of the producer & the owner of the work reproduced are reserved. Unauthorized copying, hiring, lending, public performance

and broadcasting of this recording are prohibited.

MY HEART AT THY SWEET VOICE:MUSIC FOR THE WANAMAKER ORGAN AND FLUGELHORN

PETER RICHARD CONTE, WANAMAKER GRAND COURT ORGANANDREW ENNIS, FLUGELHORN

Recorded August 3-5 and 10-12, 2014 at MACY'S, PHILADELPHIA, PA

G-49294 www.gothic-catalog.com